Just another reason to hate subbing

I was subbing a good class today. It was a bilingual classroom but almost every student was really fluent in English. The one real behavioral problem also did not like speaking English but he thought he was the class clown in Spanish.
Part of the lesson plan said that I was to take the class to the computer lab. The teacher said that she had emailed the woman who runs the lab and told her I would be coming with the students. The teacher further warned that subs weren't usually allowed in the computer lab. OKAY!! So I get there and a snotty woman told me that there was no email and further more SHE wasn't letting a sub in her computer lab. I had to bite my tongue in front of the kids. We walked back to their classroom and one of the girls said to me,"Ms. Dean, why is she so mean to you? Aren't you a teacher? Why doesn't she like subs?" I had no answers for her.
Now I know that the computer lab position is just a aide position. You do not have to have a degree in our district to run the labs. No other labs in the elementary schools in our district have the rule that subs aren't allowed.
So I wanted to say to her, "Hmmmm, so I am not allowed in the lab, tell me where did you get your BA degree. You see I have a BS from the University of Southern California's Business School. I was working on computers when you still had to have punch cards. Oh and what is your Master's Degree in? Mine is in Elementary Education and I did all my classes on the Internet. So please tell me what you are afraid I would do to your precious computers?"
I was so angry. I wanted to call my boss and really yell about it but since I am leaving, it doesn't matter does it? My screaming at my boss won't change anything. I also thought of yelling at the principal but that wouldn't help either.
You know I feel so sorry for subs. As a group, we are treated like shit from both the students and the staff. Funny, they complain when there aren't enough subs to fill all the openings. You would think that they would be nice to us.
When they have Christmas stuff we are left out.
When they have special things for National Teacher's Day, we don't count.
When we show up for work, we are not greeted by name, instead we are asked, "Who are you today?" I have been known to answer, "I am Nina just like I am every day."
These teachers crack me up. They refer to us as guest teachers and then treat us like we are pieces of crap. Hmmm, I would hate to be a guest in their home.
Do I sound bitter? I am.

Fire Alarms

So today, I was at one of the roughest elementary schools in our district. Hey, it was 1st grade..how bad can it get?
Well, it started before I could get in the door...there were no parking spaces in the teacher's parking lot! What is that about? So I had to park on the street across from the school. I park my car and walk up to the crosswalk. I said to the crossing guard that I couldn't yell at the kids if I wasn't willing to use the crosswalk myself. She said to me, "Yeah, you better because I turned in a teacher yesterday!" OHHHHH KAAAAYYYYY. That was pleasant. Thank you very much.
I finally get into the school grounds.
I get my class and it is full of talkers. Nice. The reading class was all students who are low achievers. It was painful. But if that wasn't bad enough, the fire alarm went off. So we line up and go outside. We get halfway to the grass when the school secretary says over the loud speaker that there is a water problem and nobody could use the restrooms. She told us to go back to our classrooms. So we go back to the classroom.
Now we are working in our groups and what do we hear? Another fire alarm! My aide looks at me and I say, "I am a sub, we have to go out." So we line up and walk out but I just sit them on the ground instead of walking all the way to the field because no other classes were out there. Finally, the other teachers show up. We all just look at each other. The secretary again says we can't use the restrooms and tells us to go back in the classroom.
So back we go to our groups. What happens next? You got it...the fire alarm goes off only this time it is a different sounding alarm. It was the high pitched squeal and a beeping noise. We go outside. Other teachers just opened their doors. We all waited. The alarm stopped and the secretary never announces anything. Most of the teachers took their kids back in so I did also.
Well, it turns out that they were doing some construction and the workers had busted the water main. It causes the alarm to go off because the sprinkler system needs water.
So now the kids are all wound up and my day went accordingly.
It was a tiring and icky day.

As I sit here feeling sorry for myself because I have a headache and I feel miserable, the phone rang. It brought bad news. A little girl who I used to go to church with has passed away. Kiera was a true miracle child. She would make you believe in God. She was born with a disease that should have caused her to die before she was 1 year old. She was on a ventilator, yet, she learned how to talk. She never ate any food in her life, yet she loved candy. She loved to have her nails polished.
She lived with her grandparents. Her grandma quit her job so that she could care for her granddaughter. They are proud people and would apologize if Kiera made noise in church. I would tell them that they shouldn't apologize because every sound that baby made was a miracle from God and we should be thankful for her.
The amazing thing was that she always looked like a baby to me. She had a stroller that she lived in. As I was thinking about her age, I realized she must have been at least 10 years old. Can you imagine? This little girl should have died and she beat the odds. She even went to school.
I feel so badly for her grandparents but I know Miss Kiera is finally running and eating up in heaven.

In a while

We are moving to Missouri....in a while

I may lose weight.....in a while

We are getting a new grandbaby......in a while

I will work some more on packing.....in a while

Tommy will help me.....in a while



Hmmm...my life will happen...in a while